Prior Planning…

Dwight Carter Leadership

My high school football coach always said, “Prior planning prevents poor performance.” Planning, however, was only part of the process. The other part was execution. Needless to say, we rarely got the results we wanted (we lost a lot!).

But Coach Hudson was still a great coach and an even better mentor. His lesson stuck with me: preparation matters, but you also have to adapt when the game doesn’t go your way.

Even with the best-laid plans, leaders today must be adaptable and responsive in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Continue to plan for the type of classroom, school, district, or life you want to build, because failure to plan almost always leads to poor performance.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re driving in circles without a plan, Clark Griswold’s famous European Vacation roundabout scene captures it perfectly. Without a clear plan and the courage to act, we risk going nowhere, frustrated and exhausted.

This week, think about what you want to accomplish and the moments you want to create. Then, work out your plan by asking yourself:

What resources do I need?
Who needs to be included?
What’s my timeline?
How will I check progress?
Do I have the skills to execute, or do I need to collaborate with others?
What am I missing?

At the same time, don’t let overthinking paralyze you. Planning is critical, but endless planning can be just as damaging as not planning at all. Trust yourself. Get started. Adapt as you go.

Reflection: What’s one plan you need to move from draft to action this week?

Be Great,

Dwight

Beyond the Politics: Why SEL and Employability Skills Are Essential in Every Classroom

Dwight Carter Leadership

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) took center stage during and shortly after the pandemic because students, staff, families, and the community faced mental, emotional, and, in some cases, physical challenges. Recovering from the harshness of the pandemic proved difficult for many, prompting school leaders, educators, and mental health specialists to concentrate on strategies to enhance SEL at every grade level. As fatigue set in and frustration grew, SEL became a politicized term. Some viewed it as a catch-all for non-academic issues and found it deeply offensive. However, there was a misunderstanding.
"AI-generated image created by ChatGPT using DALL·E, March 2025."

At its core, SEL is the AFFECT of schooling: teaching and modeling self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and social management or relationship skills. The terminology became a part of the mainstream lexicon, but the practices have been around for centuries. From fables, tales, and stories, we’ve learned SEL in our homes, classrooms, places of worship, social gatherings, and extra-curricular activities. Amid the politicizing of the term, skepticism increased, and educators either abandoned or quietly integrated these strategies in the classroom.

As SEL faced scrutiny, another familiar concept—employability skills—emerged in discussions about workforce readiness. Despite the different labels, both frameworks emphasize the same core competencies needed for success in school and beyond. While this terminology is not new, it has taken on a new meaning. Our nation has confronted job shortages due to retirements and the booming of new industries during the Information and Technology Age.

While SEL and Employability Skills are similar, some differences must be stated. Employability Skills focus on specific skill development, such as time management, adaptability, and technical skills. SEL emphasizes emotional intelligence, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills.

Including both skills in the teaching, learning, and leading process is essential so that every student acquires a key set of abilities to help them thrive as adults. Here are three ways to integrate SEL and employability skills into each classroom.

1. According to the Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL improves students’ academic performance by 11 percentage points. It’s not a waste of time but a valuable use of time because it creates the conditions for deeper learning. To teach SEL skills such as self-awareness and self-management, incorporate reflective journaling, exit tickets, or self-assessment tools after short—and long-term assignments.

2. Teachers can design group projects to teach social awareness and relationship skills. These projects involve students collaborating and navigating different viewpoints, fostering teamwork and empathy. To help students practice, use video clips from movies, sitcoms, or streamed shows with multiple perspectives and ask students to analyze what’s happening.

3. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report highlights problem-solving and teamwork as top skills for 2025.

Additionally, last spring, during my district’s annual Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) meeting with business advisory members, employers, and educators from our associate schools, they reinforced the need for these essential skills based on their experiences. To teach responsible teamwork, communication, and decision-making, teachers can introduce scenario-based learning or inquiry-based tasks in which students weigh options and choose the best course of action.

Whether we call them SEL or Employability Skills is simply a matter of semantics. What truly matters is that we continue to teach and reinforce these essential skills in every classroom. These abilities—self-awareness, collaboration, and responsible decision-making—are the foundation for academic and lifelong success.
As educators, we have the opportunity to integrate these skills seamlessly into daily instruction. Administrators can model how to do this during staff or department meetings and share supporting resources. Through reflection, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving, we can ensure that students leave our classrooms academically prepared and truly life-ready. Let’s commit to prioritizing these skills so every student can thrive in an ever-changing world.

Be Great,

Dwight

The Three Most Underrated Skills Students Need to Succeed

Dwight Carter Leadership

Students today, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Gen Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024), face more challenges than most generations before them because of the advent of the smartphone, 24/7 accessibility, an overabundance of choice, a disruptive job market, and having to overcome a global pandemic. On the other hand, they have many opportunities to create and define their pathway to success. They have more entrepreneurial access and opportunities, most adults have embraced them delaying or forgoing a traditional college education to explore trade schools or go directly into the workforce, and they have the freedom to move from one interest to another without judgment (for the most part).


In navigating these challenges and opportunities, students must rely on a set of foundational skills. Among them, literacy remains the most crucial, mainly because literacy creates a strong foundation for everything else. The ability to read, write, think critically, and communicate effectively will continue to open doors for those with this solid foundation.

However, literacy alone is not enough. To thrive in today’s world, students need a broader skill set that enables them to navigate uncertainty and change. As you think about the skills you possess to do your job effectively, you’d have to admit that you did not have these skills as a 15-18-year-old high school student, at least, not at the current level. Am I right?

With that in mind, let’s explore three underrated but essential skills that students need to build for success in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, starting with adaptability.

Adaptability– The quality of being able to adjust to new conditions. We cling to certainty, which is why we need routines. However, we must also help students build their adaptability muscle by having them work through scenarios, sharing stories of how others have successfully adapted during change, and reminding them that it’s a part of life. In football, when the offense fumbles the ball or throws an interception, it’s called a sudden change, and both teams need to respond accordingly. The team that can respond effectively usually wins the game. Creating the conditions for students to adapt to sudden change will help them build that skill in a safe environment where they can get feedback without penalty.

Emotional Intelligence– The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Strengthening one’s emotional intelligence is a life-long process. This is an essential skill because the higher the stress, the less likely one can control emotions/reactions. During uncertain and ambiguous situations, the ability to control and understand others’ emotions can pave the way for successful relationships and opportunities. The following are a few ways to help students strengthen their emotional intelligence:
Integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies in the classroom or meetings. For example, model centering activities allow students to think critically about their mindset, communicate with a peer, and practice active listening.

* Teach conflict resolution through scenarios, current events, history, or literature. Guide students through the process by establishing norms for conflict resolution and having students identify them through the content.

* Establish a positive school and classroom culture by creating shared norms, values, and traditions that foster an emotionally safe environment. Adults model expected behavior, so the best way to strengthen culture is to focus on adult behavior.

* Teach students how to express gratitude because it leads to more happiness, and happier people tend to have positive feelings about themselves and others, are more optimistic and relaxed, less envious, and create more positive memories.

Self-Discipline– While adaptability and emotional intelligence help students navigate change and relationships, self-discipline is the key to following through on their goals. Self-discipline is the ability to control one’s thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve one’s goals. Assign short-term and long-term projects to help students set goals and to meet benchmarks. Setting aside time to meet with them one-on-one can provide much needed feedback on their progress, and strengthen this important skill.

The world isn’t slowing down, and the challenges students face will only keep evolving. That’s why we must ensure they develop the skills to adapt, manage emotions, and stay disciplined in pursuit of their goals. If we focus on building adaptability, emotional intelligence, and self-discipline, we’re giving them the tools to handle uncertainty, seize opportunities, and create their own success. Let’s be intentional about helping students develop these underrated but essential skills—because their future depends on it.

Be Great,

Dwight

Motivating The Unmotivated

Dwight Carter Focus on Students, Leadership, Staff and Faculty

One of the hardest challenges we face as educators is working with someone who isn’t motivated. I bet someone popped into your mind the moment you read the title of this post.

What makes motivating an unmotivated person so challenging? During our professional learning day last week, I heard, read it in the virtual chat, and talked to a few people about this topic, and it’s a significant point of frustration. I know many of you can relate to this. So, I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit as I am experiencing an unmotivated child at home. Well, she’s intrinsically motivated when she’s interested!

Let’s start with how we define motivation: the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. So, if motivation is about one’s will, how do we help ignite that spark without forcing it? The truth is we can’t motivate someone, but we can create the right conditions to inspire it. We can coax, threaten, bribe, beg, or lecture, but these strategies may breed short-lived results. My wife and I continue to try new things and have found that we have to keep the ideas fresh by making connections between my daughter’s interests (at the time) and the homework or other tasks she needs to complete. What makes this even more challenging is that, like many of you, my wife and I are intrinsically motivated—and always have been—so it’s hard to understand why others aren’t. This lack of understanding can lead to judgment, frustration, and apathy.

If you are in the same boat, Here are a few practical strategies that have worked for my family and may be helpful in your classroom:

Set Clear Goals– Set clear, attainable goals so they can experience success. However, it’s important to note that setting these goals can be a challenge, as they need to be both challenging and achievable. Maintain high expectations but break them into manageable steps to help students experience success.

Give Responsibilities– Making students responsible for tasks that help the classroom or lab function better increases the likelihood of them understanding what it feels like to be motivated from within. Be sure the responsibilities aren’t punishments but add value to others, including those responsible. For example, assigning a student to organize materials or lead a warm-up activity can foster a sense of ownership.

Make Learning Relatable– Learn about your students’ interests—what they’re reading, watching, listening to, or doing outside of school—and connect that to the content. For instance, if a student is interested in sports, you can use sports statistics to teach math. If a student is a fan of a particular book series, you can use that series as a basis for a literature lesson. This might require adjusting how you deliver instruction, but the payoff is worth it.

My daughter’s interests change often, so we have to listen carefully during our conversations to learn how to connect them to upcoming tasks. For example, she loves listening to podcasts, which are about 15-20 minutes long. Over the weekend, I set a timer for 20 minutes for her to complete an assignment and gave her a five-minute break. During the break, she challenged me to a game of Speed or Checkers. Once the break was over, she got back to work.

Positive Feedback– My daughter thrives on written and verbal praise. We’ve learned to highlight her effort, especially when she’s learning something new, to help her recognize the feeling of intrinsic motivation. Strive for balance—too much praise can lead to complacency, while excessive criticism can discourage progress.

Collaborative Learning– Learning is social. Providing opportunities for students to work together improves engagement and develops essential employability skills. What better way to strengthen collaboration than through group tasks and projects?

Motivating an unmotivated student isn’t about having the perfect strategy—it’s about trying, reflecting, and adjusting. This week, identify one unmotivated student and apply one strategy consistently for two weeks. Reflect on what works, what doesn’t, and what adjustments you can make. This process of reflection and adjustment is a powerful tool in your hands. Share your experience with a colleague—or better yet, with the whole team.

You don’t have to be an educator to try these strategies. If you, a family member or a colleague need a push, try one yourself, then celebrate the progress!

Be Great,

Dwight

Attitude in Action: Five Strategies to Shape Your Mindset

Dwight Carter #CultureEd, #edchat, Be GREAT, Leadership, School Climate, Staff and Faculty

“Control the controllables.”-Viktor Frankl

I’ve thought about this quote often since the start of the 2025. With so much going on around us, we can get easily swept into an emotional tornado, flailing and hopelessly fighting to get out. However, that is a choice. It’s controllable.

We can control our attitude: how we show up and respond. In the first chapter of my book Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out, I wrote:

Our mindset determines how we respond to life. Our mindset determines how we engage with, and interact with others. Our mindset determines how we react to life. Our mindset determines our everything. Unfortunately, our feelings often hijack our mindset based on past experiences, unfulfilled dreams, heartache, disappointment, regret, fear, and my personal default feeling, frustration.

Educators face what feels like insurmountable challenges; however, we have successes and create wins every day! We just need to recognize them! So, how can we shift our mindset when challenges arise? Here are five strategies that can help reshape attitudes and impact actions:

Model Positive Attitudes Daily
Actions speak louder than words, so we can demonstrate a positive and growth-oriented attitude in the classroom. When challenges come up, model emotional control and a constructive response. “More is caught than taught.” By controlling our emotions, we can create a culture that teaches students that their mindset is a choice they can control.

Encourage Reflective Practices
Reflection is the heart of our practice, and we reflect throughout the day. To move reflection to action, incorporate journaling, group discussions, blogging, podcasting, or vlogging to make the learning visible and action-oriented. Reflect on questions like, “How did my attitude impact my behavior or decisions?”

Teach How to Understand and Manage Emotions
Develop and model strategies, such as mindfulness exercises and stress-relief techniques, to assist others in managing their emotions. Emotional regulation is a skill that must be sharpened daily. It begins with awareness of why and how we respond the way we do. This helps prevent negative feelings from overwhelming one’s mindset. Slow down, fix one’s face, remain calm, and respond according to the situation. Again, control the controllable.

Create Space for Goal-Setting and Prioritization
Help students and staff identify clear goals and prioritize their tasks while maintaining an attitude of flexibility. Encourage them to revisit these goals daily to ensure their focus remains on personal growth rather than being overwhelmed by to-do lists. More importantly, share your goals with them and allow time for them to reflect on their progress with each other, which will create a culture of accountability.

Celebrate Effort Over Outcome
Shift the focus from performance-based results to participation and effort. No, I’m not saying everyone gets a participation trophy. However, I acknowledge that recognizing and rewarding the mindset and behaviors that lead to improvement, fostering a sense of accomplishment, and encouraging positive attitudes toward learning and challenges will garner positive results.

Maintaining a positive attitude doesn’t mean ignoring challenges; it means refusing to be controlled by negativity. What we focus on and think about is what we become. Which of these strategies resonates most with you? Pick one and commit to applying it this week. Share it with a colleague and hold each other accountable for a mindset shift.

Be Great,

Dwight

“We Don’t Choose What People Remember”

Dwight Carter Focus on Students, Leadership, Staff and Faculty

A couple of years ago, I walked into my office to begin my day, sat down to turn on my computer, and noticed a slither of red illuminated my phone receiver. I briefly shrugged it off, deciding I’d check in a few minutes because I was on an emotional high from an email I received earlier that morning.

The email was from a student I had my first or second year of teaching 8th grade US History (1994-95). He had become an elementary principal in a local school district. Mind you, I last saw or talked to him when he graduated from GLHS. My book had just been published, and unknown to me, he read it and wanted to share his thoughts. It was a glowing review of the book and a couple of stories of things I did or said to him as a student that positively impacted him. His kind words surprised and humbled me because I didn’t remember what he experienced. I was grateful for his kind gesture and felt great coming into the office that day!

Once I turned on my computer and checked my work email, the illuminated phone receiver shined brightly as a reminder to check my voicemail. I picked up the receiver, pressed the voicemail button, tapped my password, and listened to the prompts. I selected the first prompt and heard the following words:


“Hello, Mr. Carter. You may not remember me, but I was one of your students when you were Principal at Lincoln High School. I just wanted to tell you that I hope you aren’t doing to other students what you did to me. You embarrassed me during an expulsion hearing and made me feel so small in front of my mom. Your words hurt me deeply, and because of you, I am pursuing my doctorate in cultural anthropology. I am better than you, smarter than you, and despite what you said, I will always be more educated than you…”

The caller continued to share how my words broke them. My head was spinning as I tried to recall this interaction. With a shaky head, I scribbled the caller’s words on any piece of paper I could find as quickly as possible. I was shaken, embarrassed, and, quite frankly, confused. After a few more colorful and choice words, the caller politely ended the message and hung up…

I sat back in my chair, dazed and defeated, and tried to process the situation. Who was this person? When did this happen? What am I going to do about it? I slowly sat up to look at the incoming number, but it didn’t match the caller’s name. Should I call them? Will I get defensive if we talk? What should I do?

In an instant, the joy I felt from the email was quickly replaced by shame and worry. What popped into my head were the following words of Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, former Superintendent of Fall School School District in Wisconsin,

We don’t get to choose what people remember. Treat every interaction as if it matters because it does.

I took a few more minutes (days) to see if I could recall any experience like that, but my mind was blank. Whether I remembered or not, what mattered most was that the caller remembered it as it happened to them. I appreciate the lesson and reminder to treat everyone with the dignity they inheritedly deserve.

The last few weeks of school can be stressful, so let’s remember Dr. Joe Sanfelippo’s words and create moments that create positive memories for ourselves and others.

Be Great,

Dwight

Get your copy of Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out here!

Kids These Days

Dwight Carter Leadership

How often have you heard or uttered the phrase, “Kids these days…”?
Yes, kids these days are different than how we grew up. They have other challenges than the ones we faced.

Most of us, as kids, had to deal with gauges and scratches on the back of our ankles from the pedals on our bike or how fast we needed to get home before the street lights came on, even though we were miles away from home. Yes, kids these days have different experiences, which can be challenging at times. We sometimes scratch our heads thinking about kids these days. However, Let us remember that many kids these days also do nice things for others.

As you watch this video below, consider the nice things you see students doing and remember they will be alright.

Be GREAT,

Dwight

Get your copy of Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out here!

Accountability

Dwight Carter #CultureEd, Leadership, reflection, School Climate

When you think of accountability, what comes to mind?

For some, it may be a reprimand or negative consequence for falling short of an expectation or goal. For others, it may be viewed as a coaching opportunity. Either way, accountability is a good thing when creating a positive culture.

According to whatis.com, accountability is an assurance that an individual or an organization will be evaluated on their performance or behavior related to something for which they are responsible. According to leadership coach and college professor Jack Slavinski, there are eight principles of accountability, so it’s a very complex skill to learn. Yes, accountability is a skill that is developed with consistent practice. The eight principles are:

I work in the Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical School District, and we have four core values:

Our leadership team constantly talks about and works hard to model our core values to ensure they are more than just words on a poster. We infuse them when developing new systems, some of our teachers use them to create shared expectations with students in classrooms, and our PBIS Team has designed lessons to teach them to students.

A few years ago, we collaboratively described what our values look like in action, but since then, we have several new leaders, teachers, and other staff members, so we are in the process of redefining each value to ensure organizational understanding and alignment. The more alignment, the stronger our culture will be.

Thinking about the importance of accountability reminds me of a video about a custodian at a middle school who had to find a way to solve a complex problem that cost him time and effort. As you watch the video, think about the eight principles of accountability and consider which ones he applied. Then, ask yourself, “Which of the principles am I strongest at, and which one is an area of improvement?” Then, decide what you will do about it to improve your classroom, department, or building culture.

Be GREAT,

Dwight

Get your copy of Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out here!

“Sunday Seven”

Dwight Carter #CultureEd, Leadership

In late July, I was featured in the Dave Burgess Consulting (DBC) Sunday Seven, a weekly series highlighting seven interesting facts about authors who publish with DBC, Inc or IMPress Books. Following are the Seven Sunday facts I shared on that website:

The Bowtie
The bowtie has become a signature look for me. It started when my wife asked me to wear a bowtie for my daughter’s first birthday party nine years ago. It took me about three weeks of practicing after watching a YouTube tutorial by Charles French. Hours before the party started, I still didn’t know how to do it. Panicking, with 30 minutes to spare, I gave it one more try and the rest, as they say, is history! I liked the look and joined in the #BowTieTuesday movement. Now I wear a bowtie every day to work. It’s a symbolic gesture of my love for my family!

Favorite GIFs
It brings me joy to celebrate others, so when someone tweets about something they’ve accomplished, I reply with one of my two favorite GIFs!

Noice GIFfrom Nice GIFs

Hat Tip Hats Off GIFfrom Hat Tip GIFs

Life Changing Life-Hack
I was a two-sport collegiate athlete. After graduating, I thought I’d continue working out, but life seemed to get in the way. As I’ve gotten older, I want to improve my fitness to be active with my daughter. Nearly three years ago, I committed to working out every day after watching a TEDx Talk by Dr. Ogie Shaw called Winning the Mental Battle of Physical Fitness and Obesity.

Dr. Shaw makes these key points:
-“Eat for nutrition, never eat for weight loss.”
-“It’s easier to work out seven days a week than three days a week. Three days a week gives too many decisions.”

The day after I listened to Dr. Shaw, I worked out first thing in the morning and have done so every day since. If I can do it, you can do it. Get started today!

Favorite Podcasts
I listen to a podcast when I work out and drive to work. I love listening to others’ stories. I listen to their cadence and what they want the listener to gain from their story. Many podcasts are not related to education because it’s essential to gain perspectives from various professions to look for ways to innovate our work. I have about fifteen different podcasts in my library, but my favorites are:
The Moth
Hidden Brain
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-american-life/id201671138
Snap Judgement

Character Strengths
Several years ago, I met a college professor and leadership coach named Jack Slavinski. I hired him to work with my leadership team, and he introduced us to the VIA Character Strength Assessment. This free assessment provides valuable information about our strengths and how we interact with others. I highly recommend you take the assessment to learn more about your signature strengths and how knowing them can impact how you interact and work with others.

Most Impactful Life Lesson
I wish I had learned this sooner, but I’m thankful the lesson came when it did. It’s pretty simple:

My Favorite Education Conference
It’s the Jostens Renaissance Global Conference! The #JRGC is the premier conference about school climate and culture for educators and students! It’s the one conference I MUST attend yearly because I return rejuvenated, energized, and equipped to start a new school year. I’ve met some of the most amazing educators through being a part of the Jostens Renaissance community, and I’m a much better educator because of Jostens Renaissance.

Be GREAT,

Dwight

Get your copy of Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out here!

The Trusted Adult

Dwight Carter #CultureEd, #edchat, #EduTwitter, Focus on Students, Leadership, School Climate

I am the Director of Student Support Systems for the Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical School District. It’s my second year in this role, and I absolutely love my team, the work, and our focus on the whole child.

We have a laser-like focus on creating the best conditions to engage, enrich, and equip students every day in every experience, and one of the best ways to do that is for each of us to be a trusted adult for at least one student.

via GIPHY

Trusted adults provide psychological safety, so students feel safe, procedures as consistent, and routines and behavior are predictable. When that occurs. students thrive!

In the movie Man of Fire, Creasy (played by Denzel Washington) was a down and suffering officer who lost his purpose in life until he met Pita. Pita was a young girl who lacked confidence and was a bit timid. Together, they formed a bond that allowed Pita to improve her self-esteem, gain confidence, and improve her performance as a swimmer. One of my favorite scenes is Pita’s swim meet. To prepare Pita for the meet, Creasy identified what she needed and used specific strategies to help change what she experienced in the water and life.

Watch the video clip below and focus on what the nun says to Creasy and what you notice about the relationship between Creasy and Pita. We don’t have to be our students’ world to have an impact; we just have to show we care for them, believe in them, and want the best for them.

How will you establish trusting and positive relationships with your students this year? How will you do the same with your colleagues? Better relationships lead to a more profound commitment to the work and more positive outcomes.

I discuss the importance of positive relationships and other guiding principles in my latest book, Be GREAT: Five Principles to Improve School Culture From the Inside Out. Get your copy today!

Be Great,

Dwight